I'm new to the world of digital art and I don't really understand the different file types. I know a .ptg is the extension for an ArtRage file, but when I export as an image I can choose .bmp, .png, .jpg, or .psg. I'm not sure what the differences are between the file types, or when I should use each one. Could someone explain, or possibly provide a link to somewhere the file extensions are explained? Thanks very much.

You will usually export to JPG so that everyone can see the image. PNG can also be used if you need transparency. PSD format when you have to import the image in Photoshop for further editing. Don't use BMP unless you are required to. Most image programs can open all of these formats.

For the web use JPG or PNG.

AndyRage

07-04-2006, 08:49 PM

In addition to what NetDevil said:
.jpg is a 'lossy' image format. It makes for images that use less disk-space, but as the compression gets higher you start seeing a certain 'blockiness' to the image.
.png and .psd are both 'lossless' image formats. That means they dont lose any quality when they're compressed. But as a result, the images use quite a bit more space on disk. You should use these formats if you want to take the image into another program to do more editing on it, or adjust it for better print output.
.bmp is an uncompressed format, and you should avoid it unless you really need to get your picture into another application that only supports .bmp

.jpg is best for EMail and showing on the web because of its smaller data size.
.png and .psd are best if you want to do something with the image on your local machine.

Cooner

07-06-2006, 05:55 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it should also be pointed out that PSD is (I believe) the only one of these formats that allows and will preserve separate layers in your document.

Exporting files to JPG, BMP or PNG will flatten the image down to a single layer. If you've got your artwork split into multiple layers, you'll lose that in any copies you save as one of these formats.

AndyRage

07-06-2006, 08:33 PM

Yeah, that's true as well, Cooner. PSD does preserve the layered information. The other formats can only have one layer, or all the layers flattened into one.
Note that even PSD doesn't store all the information from a an ArtRage painting file.
We make a good attempt to keep as much information in a PSD as possible, but if you want to save a project to keep working on it at a later date in ArtRage, save it as an ArtRage PTG file.